Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Lost: Season 2 Recaps

We are currently doing a weeklong tribute to my favorite TV show (or thing in general), the television series Lost. For morearticles about Lost week, click here.

(Editor's Notes: These episodes are judged on a curve. Lost is my all-time favorite show and even at its worst, it's still better than pretty much anything I've ever experienced on television. Additionally, Lost is a show that is built off of its mystique and mystery-if you haven't seen these episodes, SEE THEM NOW as they are the part of the best series ever put on television, and then come back and discuss as we're about to get our spoil on).

Man of Science, Man of Faith
(#2.1)

Review: Coming
off of a Lost high is never easy,
particularly considering all of the fantastic twists and turns of Exodus-Others, hatches, and black smoke,
oh my!It would take an entire
season to explain just everything that was going on in that finale, so all
things considered, we got more than we probably expected-a twist, a turn, and
resolution on just what is in the hatch (no explanation of what it does, but
still). Jack’s back story is a
rich one, showing how he would meet his eventual wife, and gives us one of the
tenderest and most smile-inducing moments of Season 2, as both Jack and Sarah
discover together that she can walk.The arguments between Jack and Locke make Locke seem more “sane,” which
isn’t really the case and is something that I don’t think the writers intended,
but that little bit of questionable logic isn’t enough to deter this from being a standout
episode.

Get Out the Kleenex: Jack
and Sarah, learning to walk-so wonderful.

Hurley Dude Count: 3

Desmond Brother
Count: Our most fraternal castaway’s favorite term of endearment is uttered
four times in this episode, all to Jack.

Sawyer Nickname
Alert: For the first time in the entire series, Sawyer doesn’t appear, and
so no hillbilly nicknames

Irony: Desmond
quite literally sees Jack in another life (circa Season 6)

Best Line: “What
do I say if I have to stop? –Kate, “Stop,” –John deadpans back, proving that
not everything on this island has to be mysterious

Best Moment: That
opening shot of Desmond, and the long camera arch upwards.

Episode MVP: I’m
going to be winningly abstract right now, and go with Cass Elliot, whose song
more than any other that would appear in the series, became entwined with the
lore of Lost.You're gonna be nowhere, the loneliest kind of lonely…

Adrift (#2.2)

Review: There are
episodes of Lost where you know
exactly where things are going to end, and you’re more along for the ride. Two episodes into the season, everyone knew that Michael, Sawyer, and
Jin were all going to return to that island, that we would make little to no
progress on Desmond’s situation, and that the “Others” would soon be making an
appearance (though in the latter, appearances can be deceiving).That being said, I did enjoy some of
the psychological banter between Michael and Sawyer, even if the back story was
all a bit redundant (haven’t we already done most of this with Susan
already?).In the episode, we get
to see some decent acting, but some lazy writing.Everything in this episode was either preordained or repetitive,
including but not limited to “Walt!, WAAAAALT!”The ending leaves us wanting more, but even that is cheap in
retrospect, as these are not Others, but in fact the Tail section of the plane.A disappointing journey, with one great
scene of Michael saying goodbye to Walt, but otherwise we’re left wanting much,
much more.

Hurley Dude Count: Not
a peep from our resident dudemeister.

Desmond Brother
Count: 2, to John and Jack.

Sawyer Nickname
Alert: Calling the island home seems much more bittersweet when we realize
that that raft was the furthest he'd get from that island for many years to come.

Best Line: “What
are you going to do, splash me?” -Sawyer

Best Moment: Michael,
trying to say goodbye to Walt.

Episode MVP: Michael,
I’m finally going to give you a best in show here.That final scene with Walt and Susan was one of your best
moments on the show.

Orientation (#2.3)

Review: It is the
rare Locke episode that doesn’t aspire to greatness, and Orientation, his first of the season, continues the trend, both in
structure and in character.Our
beloved dreamer is found on the island, deducing the meaning of a button he
knows he is supposed to push, and off the island, realizing that he needs to
let go in order to be loved.I’ve
always loved the way that Locke and Jack are both incredibly dashing when they
want to flirt, as if, in another life, they could have been very sophisticated
ladies men.The storylines that aren’t surrounding Locke are served as satisfying
morsels as well, from Jack breaking down and admitting for the first time to viewers that he is divorced to Ana Lucia pulling the wool over the raft-offs
in the hole.But it is John Locke,
eternally at the center of a strife that he can’t quite understand, who sails
through this episode and is its shining beacon, finding hope in a world he’s
determined has it.

Hurley Dude Count: Three
(I expected more with the food discovery)

Desmond Brother
Count: Three, to Jack and John

Best Line: “We’re
gonna need to watch that again,” –John, stating the obvious

Episode MVP: I
have to give this to Terry O’Quinn, who manages to continually surprise the
audience in realistic ways as he searches for love and purpose.Bonus points have to go to Katey Segal,
Henry Ian Cusick, and Matthew Fox, who as Helen, Desmond, and Jack find angered
purpose even in the most indirect of times.

Everybody Hates Hugo (#2.4)

Review: On Lost, sometimes you need an episode to
distract, and not one that features Jack’s tattoos.This would be the perfect example-after three incredibly
heavy-handed episodes, it was nice for something with a bit of levity to show
up.Hurley’s dilemma is a real
one, as he must decide what to do with all of the food from the reserves in the
Hatch, but it’s littered with a great deal of humor-Charlie getting angry at
Hugo, Kate stealing shampoo, Rose taking that candy bar.I also loved the rather magnanimous
ending, with Hugo throwing a feast for his friends.Even Hugo’s flashback is a reward, with humor and character
insight to spare.Honestly, aside
from the fact that this story contributed zero to the show’s overall mythology,
there’s really not a thing to complain about-a pleasant romp from start to
finish.

Get Out the Kleenex: Bernard,
realizing that Rose is alive, is beautiful.

Hurley Dude Count: 11,
though Hurley actually has some dude competition in this episode, from Johnny,
at 3.

Sawyer Nickname
Alerts: Ana Lucia was also great inspiration for Sawyer and his creative
process, perhaps best as Rambina.

Pause for Station
Identification: We are now treated to our second station, The Arrow, which
is perhaps the least interesting of the bunch.

Best Line: Okay,
as this is perhaps the funniest episode of the series, there are so many to
pick from, it’s ridiculous.I’d
probably go with have a “cluckity-cluck-cluck day” from Jin over Rose’s “I
don’t even know what I would say” and Charlie’s “and this baby is made of
chocolate lollipops.”

Best Moment: That
opening scene, with Jin speaking almost Southern English, along with that
mysterious Mr. Cluck Cluck.

Episode MVP: Hurley,
who gets a shining hour almost entirely to himself, and he makes the most of his
loveable self.

…And Found (#2.5)

Review: After the
delicious high of Everybody Hates,
it’s back to a rather shoddy business as usual-sorry Sun, but this is not your
most intriguing hour of Lost.As Sun searches for her ring (a rather
pointless endeavor that will easily result in her finding it), her off-screen
storyline tells us stuff we already know, that she and Jin came from different
sides of the tracks, and that the way they met was inevitably adorable.Combine that with Ana Lucia being uber-ornery
(I liked this character, but can see why she didn’t endear in her earlier
moments), far too little Hurley, Eko, or Locke, and you have the makings of a
mundane, filler episode as we wait for the tale of the Tailies.Oh, and Michael’s idiotic screaming for
Walt (this is an island that is likely bigger than Hawaii-does he really think
he’ll randomly find him?) didn’t help.

Hurley Dude Count: After
last week, we are given just one.

Sawyer Nickname
Alert: Only a Chewie, and we’ve been there before.

Best Line: “Seoul-so
is that in the good Korea or the bad Korea?” –Hurley

Best Moment: The
haunting and creepy teddy bear being dragged across the jungle floor.

Episode MVP: A
tough call, honestly, between Jin and Sun, but I have to give it to the husband
in this case, as his storyline seemed a tad more honest off the island, and for
the way he beams when he meets the woman that is his destiny.

Abandoned (#2.6)

Review: At times,
when I have made some distance from the show, I feel bad for Shannon.More than any other main character
(except the dreadful duo of Nikki and Paulo), she has been greeted with great
disdain by fans, and there is something to this-she contributed zilch to the
show’s mystery, and most anyone would have wished for her to have taken Boone’s
place the season before.That
being said, the one episode where she does get the chance to shine, she proves
why she probably was a big hindrance on the show.Her back story is interesting, no doubt, but wouldn’t she
have learned something from her unfortunate incidents with her mother and her
employer-like empathy? Responsibility? Humility?Oh well, at least this was a catalyst for Sayid to distrust
Ana Lucia.And the return of the
dreamy Boone, and his magical eyes.

Hurley Dude Count: Not
a one!

Sawyer Nickname
Alert: Ponce de Leon, referring to Ana Lucia and her quest to nowhere.

(Still) Unanswered
Questions: I have trouble believing Adam Rutherford left his beloved
daughter nothing, knowing the icy relationship between she and her stepmother.

Main Character Body
Count: Shannon bites the big one, at the hand of Ana Lucia

Best Line: “They
took a lot of things,” –Ana Lucia, responding to Michael’s standard “they took
my son” as she tries to drill sense into his damaging tunnel vision.

Best Moment: Really,
there’s a lot missing in this episode, so I’m going with Ana Lucia’s dramatic
take on the previous 48 days.

Episode MVP: Boone’s
hair (that’s not a joke-the best-looking guy on the island can rock almost any
do, particularly this floppy JTT look).

The Other 48 Days (#2.7)

Review: This is
one of the best episodes in one of the most maligned seasons, and I don’t care
that some people weren’t fans of the Tailies, the reality is that this group of
survivors would have been just as compelling to watch as the ones we had loved
for over a season.Eko, Bernard,
Libby, Ana Lucia, even the quickly disappearing Cindy were all worthy of their
own storylines.It’s a testament
to the writers that they so quickly made us engulfed in these characters lives,
and that they were able to so properly illustrate the “it could have been
worse” answer to the initial first season.This is perhaps Rodriguez’s finest hour in the show, and she
earns the starring role she’d get for the remainder of the season.Kudos also have to go out to the
editors toward the end, as we are washed into the episodes we already know with
speed and respect to the storyline (and that wicked timpani!).

(Still) Unanswered
Questions: There’s so many here, it’s hard to know where to start.What qualifies someone to be on a
list-how is that it seemingly good people like Bernard, Cindy, and Libby didn’t
qualify them initially?Why did
they take the kids?And perhaps most intriguing, what was
Nathan’s agenda?

End of an Era: For
the first time ever, Hurley and Jack do not appear in the episode-they were the
final remaining characters to have appeared in every episode, and from now on,
no one would have a perfect track record.

Best Line: “The
kids, they took the kids!” –Libby, voicing the horror

Best Moment: The
opening crash, and the plummet into the ocean.

Episode MVP: Ana
Lucia, taking an intense sort of control that kindly Jack couldn’t do, but she
kept her survivors as alive (as possible).

Collision (#2.8)

Review: In a
large letdown from the previous week’s big high, this one is a fairly routine
episode, where once again we are pulled along the inevitable storyline of
getting the Tailies to unite with the Mid-Section survivors.Ana Lucia’s anger issues are hard to
work through until you hear the pregnancy breakthrough at the end.The problem with her character is that
her anger never allowed for enough depth-I think if Rodriguez had been given
another season or two, we could have seen her sort out some of this emotional
baggage, and given the camp a third leader to contend with.I think her guns-and-ammo approach
would have been a nice contrast to Jack’s do-good-fact-based and Locke’s
man-of-faith.As it is, though, her
first introduction didn’t give us the emotional payoff that I think this
character, properly nourished, could have delivered.

Hurley Dude Count: 2

Get Out the Kleenex: Rose
and Bernard, Jin and Sun, together at last

Best Line: “I was
pregnant.” –Ana Lucia, breaking the silence

Best Moment: The
reunited Jin and Sun, Rose and Bernard trumps the cold-blooded murder, but those
two scenes combined brought this up at least two letter grade points.

Episode MVP: Ana
Lucia, if only for that top notch one-woman firing squad.

What Kate Did (#2.9)

Review: In the
long lore of Lost, this episode for
some reason has gotten a bum rap.For whatever purpose, people oftentimes rip on “What Kate Did,” when in
fact it’s a pretty damn fine episode.We get to investigate Kate’s back story, and perhaps one of her most
interesting aspects of Kate’s persona-the real reason she became a
renegade.The entire cast appears
(always a fine thing), and we get some of the quickest and most quotable lines
in eons on the show (the chemistry between Locke and Eko is electric).The filmstrip that results with Michael
finally discovering Walt on the computer is eerie and chilling, and
foreshadowing galore.I could have
done without the horse (no offense), but as a whole this is about as solid
mid-season you can get without being a Locke or Hurley episode, so kudos have
to go out to Ms. Austen and her pyrotechnics.

(Still) Unanswered
Questions: How exactly did Walt communicate with Michael?And why no contact with the outside world-was it because they
knew it would lead to the Incident?

Reallly?!? With John:
Michael, come on-typing your name in that computer?Have you never seen To Catch a
Predator?

Hurley Dude Count: 8

Best Line: “When
you say beginning, you mean beginning.” –Locke, after Eko started a story about
Josiah

Best Moment: Eko’s
uber-creepy delivery on his story of Josiah.So mysterious, like Locke in Season One or “Henry Gale”
would be later this season.

Episode MVP: Eko’s
going to win for a couple of weeks now, it’s time to admit.Here, he doesn’t even have to be the
central character.

The 23rd Psalm
(#2.10)

Review: One of those
episodes that has gotten into the land of Lost
lore, unlike “What Kate Did,” for its almost perfect narrative.Indeed, while it lacks the mythology of
“The Other 48 Days,” this is a brilliant episode.Mr. Eko, one of those great mysterious icons of the show,
gets his first taste of revelation with this story; if it weren’t a reality in
the Lost world it would have served as a perfect parable for one of Eko’s sermons.There’s so much to love in this
episode-Eko’s staring down of the smoke monster (for the first time, on full
display), the way he starts down the road to hell at such an early age, the way
he doesn’t put up with Charlie’s whininess, the way Michael can take out that
milk can.All-in-all, this is a
very human, very real episode, and one which stands apart as almost a movie,
with a complete beginning, middle, and end.Eko could have gone with no other episodes as the central
character, and this would still be a towering achievement.

(Still) Unanswered
Questions: While this has been hinted at, we’ve never had a firm answer on
the discerning nature of the Smoke Monster (I know it has to do with the candidates, but what disqualifies someone, and why did Nikki or Eko eventually suffer at its hand?).

Best Line: “You
going to beat me with your Jesus-stick?”

Best Moment: Eko
and Charlie, reciting “the Lord is my shepherd…”

Episode MVP: How
could it be anyone other than Eko?

The Hunting Party (#2.11)

Review: There are
rare episodes of Lost that sort of
get swept under the rug, and this is one of them.While we get progress on the Walt storyline, and we see the
Others, and we even uncover how Jack’s marriage went to shreds, this is just an
“eh” episode (at least on a Lost very
curved grading scale).Not a lot
happens, especially in the other storyline (who didn’t figure out exactly what
was going to happen the second we saw how beautiful that man’s daughter was?),
and everything goes almost exactly to plan.Even the ending, with its “let’s build an army” storyline
doesn’t really ring true (who didn’t assume they would fight?).It can’t get a poor grade, basically
due to the very solid showmanship and that harrowing scene in the woods, but is
this one of those episodes that will be remembered eternally when people think
of Lost?Probably not.

Hurley Dude Count: 1

Sawyer Nickname
Alert: In one that I couldn’t tell until years later wasn’t a nickname,
there was the infamous “Zeke.” For weeks I was confused and thought that Sawyer actually knew Tom Friendly and this was going to come out in a future episode.

Review: Poor,
poor Charlie.He really does have
the worst luck with everything-family, drugs, hallucinations, women.It would make me feel worse if he were
a solid sort of person like Hurley, but he’s a shifty sort of fellow who
oftentimes can’t see the light from the distorted light.The thing that has always bugged
me about this episode is that I just couldn’t believe that Charlie would ever,
ever have kidnapped that baby.I
don’t care how much he’s hallucinating, he would have known that Locke would
never have hurt Aaron.Also, I
can’t believe that Claire would quite frankly ever have forgiven him.This is when the fans started to turn
on Charlie, and it’s hard not to see why.The rest of the episode is decent-Ana Lucia, Jack, Libby, and Hurley all
have great moments, but it in no way makes up for this being the worst episode
up until this point in the series.

Really?!? with John: The
Butties commercial?Pourquoi?

Hurley Dude Count: For
an episode that Hurley has a decent amount of air time, it seems odd that he
doesn’t utter a dude once.

(Still) Unanswered
Questions: Why exactly did Libby think the washer and dryer were newer in
the Hatch? Was there more there that we never got to see?!?

Best Line: “When
a girl asks you something like that, she’s looking for validation.” –Libby,
asking a clearly in awe Hurley what he thought of her new outfit.

Best Moment: Ana
Lucia and Jack discussing “hitting that.”It’s about time someone brought up sex on this island-wouldn’t they have
thought of that eons ago?

Episode MVP: Libby,
who is so sincere and sweet in her two scenes.

The Long Con (#2.13)

Review: This is
one of the most fascinating episodes that doesn’t necessarily have anything to
do with Lost.I love this show, but any sort of
caper/conman story is catnip to me, and combining that with my beloved castmates was heaven for me.But there’s a lot
for the Lost fans out there to love
in this one.For starters, Sawyer
is at his most delicious here-meeting his match with Cassidy, getting as close
to feeling as he could before his Island redemption.Those tense moments where Sawyer is conning Kate, Jack,
Locke, even Sawyer himself on the island are shockingly unnerving.The new sheriff speech at the end,
however, is the cherry on this sundae.Sawyer would never be so ruthless as he was in this episode-while Sayid
and Locke would continue to chart further and further down into the depths of
hell, it was this moment that Sawyer hit his nadir before starting a long climb to redemption, and perhaps
even, his shot at a soul.

Hurley Dude Count: 6, mostly toward Sayid of all people

Really?!? with John: I
don’t believe for one iota of a second that Charlie would have ever hurt
Sun-this was lazy, lazy storytelling.Not even Sawyer at his most maniacal would do that. Forget the unsolved mysteries-this is the plot point on Lost that still bugs me the most a decade later.

Ironic: “Or any
time?” –Hurley, you predictive rascal

Best Line: “There’s
a new sheriff in town boys,” –Sawyer, being quite iconic

Best Moment: The
new sheriff speech

Episode MVP: Despite
the more “ensemble” pieces of the second season, this one is all James.

One of Them (#2.14)

Review: Sayid
episodes oftentimes have their own secluded nature.He is perhaps the most introverted of the very chatty
islanders, and therefore he has less of a connection with the Jacks and Lockes
and Charlies who are constantly making conversation with him.Therefore, his episodes are largely
reliant on his backstory, which can be superb (see, “Solitary”), and sometimes
they get a big “meh.”This would
be a “meh” episode.I honestly
have trouble remembering exactly what happened with Sayid, and I just saw him
five minutes ago.His journey to
becoming a torturer (again) is quite redundant, and without the emotional pull
of Nadia, it doesn’t resonate.Outside of him, we get our first encounter with Henry Gale, who doesn’t quite
register in this episode (that’ll be coming, oh Ben Linus), and the story of
Sawyer and the tree frog.But
overall, not the brightest of Lost
episodes.

Iconic: And one
of the most important characters in the series, Mr. Benjamin Linus, has now
appeared.

Really?!? with John: Okay,
this has completely and totally thrown me all these years for Lost­-how is there no one from Minnesota
on this flight?And couldn’t they
have tripped up Ben with MN trivia?Finally, a contribution that I could have made to the Island!

Best Line: “So
tell me Charlie, have you forgotten?” –Sayid, in one of those rare instances
where the best line has both gravitas and is the last of the episode.

Review: Claire
gets further into one of her two great mysteries of her storyline, that of her
mysterious time away on the Island.In fact, we essentially get the entire kit-and-kaboodle on that one, as
we learn that Ethan had drugged Claire, that they had wanted the baby, and they
were worried about infection.What
that infection is, we’ll have to wait and see (they’re always opening windows
on Lost).Emilie de Ravin gets some room to play with her acting chops
in this episode, and while they aren’t always successful (some of the
histrionics seem a little bit staged), she does have presence, and it sets you
up for the dark places Claire has yet to venture to.On the other side, the actors who we know can act (O’Quinn,
Emerson, and Akkinnouye-Agbaje), all three are able to pull off some rather
terrific sequences, culminating in a discussion on Hemingway and
Dostoevsky.You feel like the
episode is crescendoing to something, but the journey of Claire is worth
stopping to take a look.

Hurley Dude Count: Not
a one-Hurley’s barely in this episode, though, aside from his contant presence
next to Libby.

Sawyer Nickname
Alert: Just a random Thelma for Kate (does that make Claire Louise…or
Rousseau?)

Pause of Station
Identification: The mysterious Staff, a house for medicine and treachery.

Best Line: “What
is the alarm for?” –Eko, making the closest thing he’ll ever make to a joke, if
accidentally, as Jack raises his eyebrows in the background

Best Moment: Eko
and Ben, getting some solemn one-on-one (don’t you have the feeling that Eko is
one of the few people he’d have trouble lying to)

Episode MVP: I’m
going to give it to our girl from Down Under, who gets that very tender moment
with Aaron at the end.

The Whole Truth (#2.16)

Review: Locke
episodes always are a desperate search for purpose, Jack’s are a search for
truth, Hurley’s a welcome break from the madness.If there’s a theme to the episodes of Sun, it’s perhaps a
quiet desperation of a woman who has been trapped her whole life, and is
suddenly able to break free in the most remote place on earth.That she finds that her old life was
exactly what she would have chosen is just icing.This episode is a rich tapestry of a woman caught in a
whirlwind, and one of Sun’s better episodes (she’s usually lacking in mythology,
but makes up for it by having one of the best flashback storylines of the
characters).The side stories are
equally compelling in this episode-Sawyer and the pregnancy test (solid funny)
and Ana Lucia/Sayid/Charlie traipsing through the jungle to a potential
trap.But it’s in Sun’s eyes that
this show rests, so full of hope at times, and at the end, not necessarily
sadness, but regret.

Get Out the Kleenex: Jin, telling Sun it’s a miracle that they are
pregnant.

Hurley Dude Count: 1, and in a bizarre turn, to Sun

Sawyer Nickname Alert: Papa-Sun and Daddie-O show up as Sawyer outs
the father to be.

Best Line: “I
guess it’s a good thing I’m not one of them, huh?” –Ben, revealing far too much
(or maybe not enough)

Best Moment: As
much as I want to go with the beautiful moments between Jin and Sun-there’s so
much to love there, I have to go with Ben’s ominous, horrifying tale of a
trap.An episode that’s even
better in pieces.

Episode MVP: Sun,
for the way that she handles the tale of a woman in three desperate situations
(marriage, pregnancy, and affair)

Lockdown (#2.17)

Review: Locke
episodes are always teaming with purpose, always giving some sort of revelation
into our Man of Faith.It’s a
little odd, then, that the episode where we see him lose his faith is the
teensiest bit of a downfall.Maybe
because it’s so uncharacteristic of even the obsessive Locke to have sacrificed
the perfect destiny of Helen, or that the once savvy Locke could have fallen so
deeply for Ben’s lies.Either way,
this episode has much to lend to it (it’s still a Locke quest for faith), but
it just doesn’t quite hit the bigger notes that would be Locke’s journey before
and after this.It says something
when Jack and Sawyer’s flirtatious rivalry far outweighs the man who would be
black.

Really?!? with John: I’m
sorry, I love you Mr. Locke, but falling for your father’s line…again?Going under that vent twenty seconds
after you stopped it from falling?John, trust is not your strong suit.

Best Line: “Should
I go get a ruler?” –Kate, commenting on the “get-a-room” banter between Jack
and Sawyer

Best Moment: The
writing on the wall

Episode MVP: An historic first, I’m not going with
Locke for one of his centric episodes, but Jack, who gets some wonderful light-hearted moments playing poker
and flirting with Kate.

Dave (#2.18)

Review: Hurley
episodes have this great habit of being considerably better than you remember
them being.Maybe because you
expect it to be all lightweight fluff, and it still has that Lost heft (sorry, not a fat joke).Hurley’s mental instability is
something that you always have to question-is what he's seeing real?This island has a way of playing
tricks-where’s the crazy and where’s the Man in Black?His Libby romance is brought to the
forefront, and the writers are smart enough to project all of Hurley’s doubts
(and even our own) on this wandering Mad Hatter of the jungle.The ending, with the stunning
revelation that Libby has a little secret of her own (one that would have to
wait four more seasons to be uncovered more fully), is just icing on an episode
that is considerably better than you remember.

Hurley Dude Count: Just
2, the lowest count ever for a Hurley-themed episode.

Sawyer Nickname
Alert: Deepdish for Hurley and Moonbeam for Libby

(Still) Unanswered
Questions: I don’t buy that Libby was merely another mental patient.In one of the great unsolved mysteries
of the show, we never did figure out just exactly who is Libby?And what was she doing in
Australia-she’s the only main character whose reason has never been explained.

Best Line: “I did
see a polar bear on skates with a mango.” –Charlie, discussing what he mockingly saw with Hurley

Best Moment: Hurley’s
creepy discussion about how he is still in the asylum, confirming every fan’s
worst fears.

Review: In one of
the most unexpected treats of the entire series, we got to
investigate the lives of Bernard and Rose, and their back story.It’s a pity we didn’t get this
opportunity with any other ancillary characters (such as Cassidy or Jacob or
Ethan).The episode lends little
to the mythology of the show, other than to show Locke continually tormented by
Ben and for the return of Michael.And yet, it’s a slow ride of a wonderful Lost offshoot.One
wishes that they would have taken these tangents more frequently throughout the
series, as they are so deep and rich and rewarding for the characters
involved.At the end, though, this
was the most impressive and only solo hour for our beloved couple, who valiantly realize that
they have found their purpose, and it is each other.

Get Out the Kleenex: Bernard
tells Rose that he will never leave this island.

Hurley Dude Count: 2

Best Line: “We
won’t ever leave Rose.” –Bernard

Best Moment: Bernard,
becoming the second person to realize that the Island was the best thing that
ever happened to him.

Episode MVP: Sorry,
for the first time ever, I’m going to tie this one up-how can you pick between
Bernard and Rose?

Two for the Road (#2.20)

Review: There are
some things on Lost that are
difficult to imagine, like Smoke Monsters and “Candidates,” but that is part of
the mythology of the show.Then,
there are some things that are completely unbelievable, and this episode was
the most difficult to swallow.While contractual obligation was the reason that Libby and Ana Lucia
were written out of the show, if we take the show as reality, it’s difficult to
imagine that they wouldn’t have immediately questioned that Michael had been
compromised-how could he not have been.As Ana Lucia so memorably pointed out, “these people are smart.”How could they not have compromised
Michael, whose character was so blinded by tunnel vision he made
raft (err, rash) decisions that essentially got his son kidnapped.It’s hard to wonder how he could
justify killing Ana Lucia and Libby, and this episode, while supremely
compelling, still leaves a bitter taste.

Hurley Dude Count: 3

Main Character Body
Count: Ana Lucia technically is the only one to die this episode, as Libby
will stick around for another episode.She’s taken in the most brutal fashion on the show (until the sub), by
Michael.

Best Line: “I
guess that takes cuddling off the table.” –Sawyer, after fooling around with
Ana Lucia

Best Moment: I
know I’m a contradiction here (honestly I could have swung a full letter grade
up and down on this one), but the brutal slaying is, while not the “best” the
one that is technically the most shocking.

Review:One of the more frustrating things about
Mr. Eko is that his storyline slowly lost steam as the Tailies began to
die.This may have been because
there were too many characters to juggle, or that the actor playing him became
insufferable off-set, but those shots of manic as he slowly began to move along, so
dangerously following his ghostly brother, made me think that if he had stayed
on the show a little longer, he may have been a brilliant additional enemy to
both the Others and the Castaways alike.The rest of this story, a means to the ends of discovering the Pearl and
bringing about the end of the Hatch (something I still have trouble
comprehending happening), is rather haphazard with a throwaway story about a
miracle (though it does explain how Eko got to Australia), and one compelling
scene of Libby dying.All-in-all,
a fairly pointless endeavor as we wait for the finale. (D)

Get Out the Kleenex: Libby
slips softly into the night.

Hurley Dude Count: Not
a one, which is understandable as his girlfriend is dying.

Main Character Body
Count: We get a back-to-back look at death as Libby slips away from
Michael’s gunshot.

Pause for Station
Identification: We get a portrait of the Swan, buried underneath the plane
(how did John not notice this before?), and filled with crushed beliefs.

Best Line: “Michael,”
–Libby squeezing out one petrified word as she slipped into the Island abyss

Review: It is
time to just admit it-this is the single most infuriating episode of the
series.It should, quite frankly,
be wonderful-we actually get to see some of the inner-workings of the Others,
we see more of their world, but the episode is completely devoid of
believability (and it has nothing to do with smoke monsters or time travel).It has to do with the characters
believing a clearly, completely lying Michael.The fact that he would choose Hurley over Sayid-how could
this not trigger any red flags?The fact that he bosses around Jack, Sawyer, Sayid, and everyone follows
this?I cannot believe that the show’s writers couldn’t think of a better
way for Michael to convince the characters to go according to the list.And, I will end this by saying that
Michael is a jackass-he pretends that he’s after this son he knows nothing
about, and in the meantime justifies his reunion by killing two people, leading
four others to what should have seemed like certain slaughter, betraying
everyone on the Island, and acting like a spoiled petulant two-year-old (it’s
not hard to guess who my least favorite character in six seasons was, is
it?And that’s including Nikki and
Paulo).

Hurley Dude Count: 1

Sawyer Nickname
Alert: Caught in a Net…aka as swinging from the rafters.Oh Sawyer, you scoundrel.

Really?!? with John: Basically
everything with Michael, and throw in Eko missing the funeral.

Best Line: “At
least now we’ll get to kill somebody.” –Sawyer, finding the silver lining

Best Moment: The
fabulous Ms. Klugh, giving Michael the list

Episode MVP: Sayid
deserves praise for realizing that Michael has been compromised, Bea Klugh is
wonderful in her line delivery, but I’m going with Kate for actually telling
off Michael, and acting realistically when no one else did.

Live Together, Die Alone
(#2.23)

Review: And so we
conclude another season of the show, this one not quite as luxurious and
enigmatic as the first, but still a worthy successor to the pantheon of Lost finales.This one has it all-compelling storylines for all of our
most beloved castaways (the boat crew, those wandering through the jungle, and
the drama in the Hatch), it takes huge strides forward with the story, with the
discovery of the Hatch’s true intentions, the Penelope Widmore storyline
advance, and a welcome look into the world of the Others.There are of course things to quibble
about (namely the
far-fetched Michael storyline (and how it comes to a head because they
continually believe his lies)), but overall this is an intensely entertaining
and action-packed episode.To make
matters even more delightful, we are actually given the centric storyline of one of the
show’s most enduring and beloved creations, Desmond (and a glimpse of his
unattainable goddess, Ms. Penelope Widmore).

Get Out the Kleenex: Penny’s
Letter

Hurley Dude Count: Just
1

Desmond Brother
Count: 12

Really?!? with John: There
is a giant marble statue in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, on an island, and
you have a sailboat-how is it possible that you don’t circumnavigate this
island and go and investigate that statue?!?

Best Line: “Who
are you people?” –Michael, followed by “I don’t know what is more
disturbing-where the rest of the statue is or that it has four toes.” -Sayid

Best Moment: A
tough call between the statue and Desmond’s turning of the key, so I’m going
with perhaps the most beautiful moment of the season, Desmond opening that book
and seeing his beloved’s long overdue letter.

Episode MVP: Starting
off a most compelling and revealing storyline, we are given Mr. Desmond Hume.